From: Mike Fletcher <fletch@ain.bls.com>
Date: Mon, 22 Apr 1996 09:01:38 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Georgia Legislation - Remailer Effect???
In-Reply-To: <199604202128.QAA09545@rex.isdn.net>
Message-ID: <9604212054.AA03211@outland.ain_dev>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


[NOTE: These are my opinions, not those of my employer (Who is
 mentioned below :).]

> Georgia OKs "Net Police" law
> 
>                 By Rose Aguilar
>                 April 19, 1996, 5 p.m. PST 
> 
>                 A bill signed into law this week by Georgia Governor 
> Zell Miller has sparked yet another firestorm

	*Sigh*.  Well, now I know voting for Bill The Cat wasn't a
mistake. :)

>                 House Bill 1630 was introduced on February 8 by
> Georgia House of Representatives member Don Parsons
> (R-Marietta). The bill makes it illegal to

	Ah, Cobb County.  That would explain it.  That's Mr. Newt's 
stomping grounds, for y'all unfamiliar with Georgia.

>                 Parsons says he drafted the bill to solve the
> problem of online impersonation. "Back in the winter I started
> hearing about home pages through the news that offer remedies and
> health related services.  To the untrained eye the pages make it
> appear that the information provided is valid and could be some kind
> of remedy," Parsons said. "After some thought and research I decided
> to present the bill."

	Can't prosecute those under existing fraud statutes if they're
using one of them newfangled com-pootrs now can we.

>                 The problem is that the wording of the law leaves it
> open to multiple interpretations, according to the EFF. "He created
> a very vague law that could very well make everyone on the Internet
> a criminal," said Steel. Furthermore, the EFF is accusing Parsons of
> introducing the bill to help his employer, Bell South, win a
> lawsuit.

	Didn't this get cleared up with whomever it was that got the
"mcdonalds.com" domain (some Wired reporter?)?

>                 Kaye is the Web master of a site called the
> Conservative Policy Caucus (CPC), which posts information about
> House activities from the viewpoint of the conservative legislative
> caucus. During debate over his bill, Parsons referred to the CPC
> site as an example of one that passes itself off as an official
> government site.

	There was something about this on the local news.  The big
brouhaha was that the CPC page used the state seal "improperly".
Again, doesn't existing trademark law cover this?

	Gee, I wonder if my email address is sufficently vague that
I'm now a criminal . . . .

---
Fletch                                                     __`'/|
fletch@ain.bls.com  "Lisa, in this house we obey the       \ o.O'    ______
404 713-0414(w)      Laws of Thermodynamics!" H. Simpson   =(___)= -| Ack. |
404 315-7264(h) PGP Print: 8D8736A8FC59B2E6 8E675B341E378E43  U      ------